Aero India 2023 – the 14th edition of Asia’s largest Air Show and exhibition was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in Bengaluru on 13 February 23.

This edition of Aero India, scheduled from 13-17 February 2023 would showcase the growing prowess of India’s defense industry in Aero Space to realize the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ and achieve self reliance in defense. The Air Show displays state of the art aircrafts from Indian Air Force and many foreign countries.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted ‘Shared Prosperity through Enhanced Engagements in Defense-SPEED’ Defense Ministers’ Conclave comprising Defence Ministers of other friendly foreign countries attending Aero India 2023 on 14 February on the sidelines of the Air Show.

State Minister for Defense of Sri Lanka, Mr. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon participated in Aero India 2023 and SPEED- Defense Ministers’ Conclave. He is accompanied by a business delegation from Sri Lanka to identify avenues for greater cooperation. Speaking at the event, he emphasized that in this ‘Asian Century’ there is a need to look beyond our borders and utilize forums like Aero India towards defense cooperation through joint ventures, co-development and production whilst investing in enhanced engagement in R&D and industry for sustainable development. Further, he stressed the importance of collective response through multilateral efforts like the Colombo Security Conclave to tackle the common security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region. During the visit, the State Minister also met the Chief of Defense Staff and all three service chiefs in addition to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

It may be recalled that Sri Lanka Armed forces have been successfully operating a range of Indian defence equipment like Indra Radar, Offshore Patrol Vessels and Army training simulators. More recently the Government of India have committed supply of Floating Dock, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and Dornier aircraft which would ensure capacity building of Sri Lanka Armed Forces in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine.